Sunday, March 25, 2012

What do science museums have in common with animation? They give people insight into structure and possibility. One reason I've always loved industrial tours is that they give people a chance to witness the actual mechanics of various manufacturing processes, whether they involve brewing beer or constructing airplanes.

Whereas Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park) have always been able to react quickly to breaking news events, their speed is helped by the fact that they are primarily working in two dimensions with paper cut-outs. A show like Rick & Steve requires miniature sets and puppets for each character, as explained in the following video.

Using paper cut-outs, Kim fills his protagonist's dreams with memories of dead relatives and strange men that he and his father used to see on their trips to the bathhouse.

Some of the paper cut-outs used by Kangmin Kim in his film

Some of the film was created using mechanical dolls created specifically for scenes in a miniature bathhouse.

The following teaser gives a brief glimpse into the color palette used by Kim for his film:

As the young filmmaker explains:

“I think of myself as a designer, not an artist. When I watch P.C. animation, I feel really different. Something about it doesn’t feel alive. Since this was a two-year project, I had to do everything. During the day I drank tea and listened to music. At night, I went to the set and just played with my characters all night. Once I had the camera in front of the set, I let my inspiration manage the process.

This movie did not have a storyboard at all. I just drew in my sketchbook for inspiration until I had done the set. Since this was the final tyro movie in my life, I didn’t wish to have any limitations. Instead, I longed for the assembly to feel the emotions from images, not plot. I admire the hardness of stop motion because it takes objects from actual life. Characters were not critical to me; the bathhouse was more important.”

You can watch Kim at work and get a sense of his artistic vision in the following clip:

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While many traditions in the world of animation are stylistic ones that have been handed down from one generation of artists to another, sometimes animators take great fun in turning tradition upside down and inside out. Consider the following example: